Principal's Corner

Welcome to SHAPE American Elementary School, (SAES) home of the Knights of Excellence!

SAES is located at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. We moved on August, 2014 to our brand new learning facility with an area of 114,057 square feet housing 58 classrooms, two computer labs, a gym, a music room, and a multi-purpose service area and performance stage. Our common areas encourage student interaction. We have high-speed wireless internet and all the latest educational and assistive technologies DoDEA has to offer.

We are uniquely situated and staffed to serve 600 elementary students, almost half of them dependents of the 28 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and 22 Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries. We work very closely with our American and international parents, as well as the members of our community. The diversity of our student body and partnerships make for a rich, multi-cultural, real-life perspective and team-work in our learning environment.

It is this cooperative culture that encourages students of SHAPE American Elementary School to give their best every day, in every way. They are driven and motivated, and their accomplishments have earned our school the prestigious distinction of being chosen as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence twice, the first time in 2001 and again in 2012. Our Terra Nova scores are higher than DoDEA’s scores. The staff members, parents and stakeholders work collaboratively to drive the potential for individual learner success. We promote citizenship, an inclusive curriculum, community and stakeholder collaboration, technology and data-drive standards-based instruction. Our specials include Host Nation Culture and French to provide our students with the knowledge and skills for a rewarding Belgian experience. Our school-wide goals of improving reading comprehension and math problem solving skills address the needs of our students based on our comprehensive data analysis and other criteria. We continue to solicit input from our stakeholders to ensure our information are accurate, current, and reflective of the needs of our students.

We are also proud to be one of only three schools in Europe to pilot DoDEA’s 21st Century Teaching, Learning, and Leading initiative. A critical piece of the initiative is the Professional Learning Framework (PLF) for teachers which provide a continuous, supportive, and customized professional learning cycle that evolves to meet the needs of our staff members.

We look forward to a great year together as we continue to learn and grow together.

Sincerely,

Your Principal

SHAPE ES

Unit 21420 APO, AE 09705-1420

Phone: 011-32-65-32-6934/35Fax: 011-32-65-326218

It is the responsibility of the parents or guardians to notify the school every time a student is absent.

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